Change in Distance to Nearest Abortion Facility in Wisconsin, 2010 to 2017

Many states have experienced closures of abortion clinics in response to a variety of circumstances, such as legislative acts or threats of violence. A recent prominent example occurred in Texas following the 2013 passage of Texas House Bill 2, which banned abortion after 20 weeks, required doctors to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital, and held abortion clinics to the same standards as other surgical centers.1 The Supreme Court struck down the law in 2016 for placing an undue burden on women seeking abortion care.2 Still, Grossman et al. (2017) documented a decline in providers from 41 in 2012 to 17 in June 2016, including a reduction of abortion by 14% between 2013 and 2014. For this report, we collected information on abortion service provider locations in Wisconsin, and those nearest to the state border in Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, and Iowa. This report documents changes in distances to the nearest abortion provider for Wisconsin residents over the period 2010-2017.

Information

  • Series: La Follette School Working Paper No. 2018-004
  • Authors: Jason Fletcher, Jordan Madden, Emma Romell, and Zeyu Wei

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